Lawsuit

Long story short my wife was contacted to do a wedding for a couple out of state. It was a friend of a friend type situation so we told the lady to check out our Facebook page and see what she thought of our photography company and some of the weddings we had done. She said everything looked great and hired us. My wife drives to 2 hours down, takes the photos at the wedding, we edit them and have them to her in about 2 months. Around 600 photos total and 150-200 edited. We do not here back from her for almost 7 months until she tried printing a 30x20 portrait which she said is grainy due to a high ISO. We told her we was working on a resolution and asked her to send us a picture via txt of the photo she was wanting printed and we would try to help. She has refused to send the picture and is now threatening us with a lawsuit if we do refund her full amount. We have messages from her saying and she likes the photos but because the one will not print likes she wants that the whole album is trash. She did sign a contract before hand and we even caught her altering one of the wedding photos with our water mark on it and posting it to Facebook. We have no idea if she will make good on her threats and if she does where do we go from there? This is new territory for us so any help would be amazing!

Ask her to put her complains in writing, check it against contract you have signed with her.

hahahahaha over one picture? Yeah what was your contract or discussions via txts or emails concerning the job?

 

Besides... she wont win in court over one picture that wouldn't print, you also showed good faith, willing to help her solve the problem at no extra cost.

That one picture only represents 1/200th of your photos... and its an even smaller portion of the entire work load when considering what the entire package entailed. You'll win.

 

Keep all your communications to memorialize her dissatisfaction. emails, text messages... etc.

Small claims court leaves the burden of proof on the plaintif.... but you have to tip the scales to your side to win.... thats where your communications come in handy.

 

One picture doesn't entitle her to a free lunch.

 

Let her sue.

Since things seem to go sideways these days, get the advice of a lawyer, and keep copies of everything related to the incident.

I've been through this type of thing. The bride wrote me a deposit check that bounced. I foolishly accepted another one that, you guessed it, also bounced. After the wedding she demanded all the prints, all the negatives (yes that long ago) and all of her money back or she would be filing suit. She was just trying to get it all for free and maybe get me to give her some money along with it. My next stop was to swear out a warrant for the bad checks. Funny thing, she never did get around to filing suit. You are probably looking at the same thing here. Show good faith on your part and keep it documented, otherwise I wouldn't give her the time of day.

 

Rick H.

First . . . Do you have a contract? Second . . . Did you release your copyrights for her to make prints?

 

Ask where she is trying to have the image printed so that you can work with them. Inform the printer that you are the copyright holder and you will hold them responsible if they print your images without your permission.

 

The very fact that she will not tell you which image she is trying to make a large print from tells me that you should just ignore you until she is willing to work with your help.

Before signing a contract you should study how to write in good, correct and literary English.

And before asking this question it is good to show a bunch of your works at that wedding.

Did you negotiate a contract with her? Did it specify the size of prints that can be made and more importantly did it provide any sort of guarantee on the quality vs size of the resulting prints? A 20 x 30 print from a DSLR is pushing the limits. One doesn't normally expect high quality from 20 x 30 prints unless made in very controlled environments, camera on tripod, professional lighting, etc, in a studio. Was this where/how the image was made? Unless you made lots of promises in your agreement, I cannot imagine a poor quality 20 x 30 print (and what is 'poor quality' is subjective) nullifies a photo contract or else all wedding photographers are at risk in every wedding they shoot.

Paul Ron's answer is spot on. She simply won't win a case for a refund based on one photo not printing - especially when you have offered to help and she has ignored you/refused.

Sit tight and await developments. OK ... I am in UK so lawa different but it sounds like so is complaining about the quality of a print she has had made from one of your digital images. In my world she is a very long way from describing the basis of even a complaint let alone a law suit. So, stay silent and wait would be my approach.

Sit tight and await developments. OK ... I am in UK so lawa different but it sounds like so is complaining about the quality of a print she has had made from one of your digital images. In my world she is a very long way from describing the basis of even a complaint let alone a law suit. So, stay silent and wait would be my approach.

He wants to get paid for his work. How long would you wait?

He wants to get paid for his work. How long would you wait?

The story seems to suggest Aaron's wife got paid and the client is claiming she's going to sue for a refund. I don't think Aaron's wife is waiting to get paid. I think Aaron is asking what to do regarding the potential lawsuit the client is saying she'll file.

 

I'm assuming the OP left out the word "not" in the following ...

She has refused to send the picture and is now threatening us with a lawsuit if we do refund her full amount.

He wants to get paid for his work. How long would you wait?[/QUOT

 

.

 

50% down payment at signing of contract. balance due 90days max upon delivery. then try contacting the client to notify delinquency n penalty chages, no responce, i file the small claims suit and/or put a leien on them depending how much is owed.

 

someone mentioned turning it to a collection agency. that does make it easier if its a big chunk of money.

 

i do think this thread was the op being concerned about being sued because the client couldnt print one picture.

Edited November 14, 2018 by paul ron

Sorry, I misunderstood.

Sit tight and await developments. OK ... I am in UK so lawa different but it sounds like so is complaining about the quality of a print she has had made from one of your digital images. In my world she is a very long way from describing the basis of even a complaint let alone a law suit. So, stay silent and wait would be my approach.

I understood from the original post that the photographer had in fact been paid. The unhappy client appears to be threatening a civil law suit to obtain a full refund. Threats are easy to make, but not so easy to carry out, especially without a 'good case'. In the circumstances, as described in the post I personally, in the UK, would sit tight.